The Solus
by Me n0t y0u
Summary: There comes a time when a good man must wear a mask and the hero must hide in the shadows. In the kingdom of Idris an outlaw rids the land of crime, her name is a legend and her face is a myth, but when this hero's quest for justice is collided with a common orphan boys quest for knowlege could they be led down the same adventure in order to fulfil both their quests? All characters
1. Emerest

*Prologue*

**Emerest **

_The forest is dark, the shadows of logs and bushes and branches scattering across the tree trunks growing carelessly across the moonlit forest floor, stretching up to the sky as if trying to catch the shining stars accompanying the large full moon. The rustle of branches and the calls of wild animals made up the music of the forest. Among the shadows where the sleeping forms of two travellers, bravely setting across the land on foot. Their destination was not in this kingdom though; they were only setting camp in the woods of Idris for a night before setting off on their trek in the morning to the kingdom across from this one, the city of Elye to visit their ill mother. The two brothers lay in their makeshift tent, made from canvas thrown across sticks to make an open canopy of sorts. They had been trekking the mountains for two days now and were consuming a well-earned slumber under the cool night._

_Mortelle awoke to the sound of a shivering growl, opening his eyes and yelling out with a start to find a large mound of grey fur breathing over him dauntingly. About to scramble over the rocky ground to the far side of the tent he froze realising the wolf could catch him before he even moved two feet. By now his brother-Sarji-had awoken by his oh so manly scream and was trembling beside him. They were not used to wild animals, growing up in The City and Mortelle knew neither he nor his brother would be able to fight off this beast by hand. Perhaps we could both jump on it at the same time, the power of two men combined must be large enough to take down this dog… or we both get shredded to pieces you idiot! What are you thinking! The wolf continued to treed confidently under the canvas covering, his thick teeth showing with his mouth slightly parted looking as though he was almost grinning at the men._

_Mortelle-still on the ground- moved protectively in front of his younger brother slightly and saw the glint of metal in the moonlight flash as he did so. About a foot behind his brother laid the discarded travelling coats of the men and among it a large dagger strapped onto a leather belt along with a sachet for coins and a compass. The wolf walked over to a bag and began sniffing for its contents and Mortelle saw this as the perfect moment, leaning into his brother._

"_Saj" the younger man kept his frozen gaze on the dog blankly, fear evident in his cool blue eyes "Sarji!" he quietly yelled under his breath hoping not to disturb the animal. Sarji looked up at him startled _

"_It-it's…it's-a… a-" he trembled. Mortelle glared and interrupted him_

"_Yes, Saj ive seen the bloody animal!" he hushed under his breath in annoyance "now reach behind you and pass me Dad's blade before it rips us to shreds"_

_Following his brothers orders Sarji shakily drew his breath as he felt around blindly in the dirt behind him, not daring take his eyes off the beast, until finally feeling the familiar cool metal under his touch. Unhooking the blade and passing it victoriously into his brother's hands, Sarji let out a breath of relief._

_The large dog turned back around and padded across to its company, Mortelle stood up vigorously as it approached and yelled authoritatively at the wolf to get away, brandishing his weapon in front of him- swinging his arms around threateningly. The wolf stared steadily with his green beady eyes as though challenging him to even attempt. Swallowing he yelled loudly again and in return the wolf let out an ear splitting series of barks making the two men jump back. Mortelle stepped forward and lashed out at the wolf with the blade but just before it hit the wolf something soared through the air and hit the blade out of his hand and sent it clattering onto the floor with precision. All three heads snapped back to see who had sent the arrow. Mortelle gasped when he saw a hooded figure cloaked in a long green fabric standing before him with arms stretched out bow at the ready._

_Neither men spoke- deciphering wether this mysterious figure was friend or foe. _

_A confident voice rang out through the eerie forest "Emerest. Step away from the visitors, they mean no harm to your cubs nor yourself" the brothers were both shocked, not only at how this strange figure spoke to the wolf like it was human but because it was a feminine voice, what was a girl doing associating with wild animals and wandering the forest alone at night? The wolf growled back at the two men and walked honourably over to the woman. _

"_Thankyou" she said softly and looked down at Emerest and the dog nodded back in acknowledgement "now it might be a good idea to think about heading home Emerest, you know your children will be worried if they awaken without your accompany" and with a final glance back at Sanji and Mortelle the wolf was gone, off into the darkness of the forest. _

"_Don't worry about Emerest, she's nice I assure you. She is just…," the figure laughed melodically into the empty woods as she began to walk towards the two men and their campsite "…a very protective mother"_

_The two brothers looked back to the figure who they had now established as a woman and Sanji looked questioningly at her "What are you doing?" he hadn't meant to say that, but it had somehow slipped out._

_The woman stopped walking, she was now about three meters away and Mortelle noticed that she was actually quite a lot shorter than him, by about a foot. "I'm saving your life, I thought it was quite obvious to be honest" she mused_

"_Women shouldn't wander alone in the night" Sanji continued, his habit of not being able to keep his mouth closed getting the better of him once again "especially in the forest, you could get hurt" this caused another melodious laugh -though Sanji noticed a hint of bitterness to the tone- to resound throughout the clearing as she took several more steps closer until she was merely three feet from Sanji. _

"_Boy, I can assure you the things in this forest are child's play compared to what I've seen" she chuckled again letting wisps of mist blow from her breath in a gothic fashion. Mortelle didn't understand what she meant by this so he asked a question of his own_

"_Who are you…?" he meant to sound confident but his voice betrayed him. The figures small stature flicked her attention to him and replied in a bold and authoritive voice._

"_It depends on who you are. Some call me less charming names, but generally the townspeople have taken on their own accord to calling me The Solus" _

**Hey everyone, so I decided to write this new story, I know I haven't updated any of my other stories in like two years *sorry* I just honestly haven't really had that much time and now your probably going 'oh yeh absolutely no time yet deciding to write a whole new story yeh right!' but I just had this idea in my head and had to get it down. Hopefully I will be posting new chapters on **_The Battle of Time___**soon so yeah, hope you enjoy this new edition and reviews would be cool because I haven't written a story like this, so criticism is always good and I forget about my stories so motivation always help updates**

**-Me P:3**


	2. Hodge

_**-2-**_

**Hodge**

_Dawn has arrived and the peaceful hustle of the busy streets could be heard over the rising sun. People rushed around the cobble stone roads carrying assortments of strange objects as they began the new day. One man in dirty clothes carrying an oddly shaped sack over his shoulder, a woman in a vibrant dress carrying a basket of garments, old men pushing carts and children herding cattle to the market, indeed anything you could ever want could be found in the streets of Idris. Between the streets lay old stone buildings which lay home to every kind of shop imaginable- bookstores, delis, weapons, cakes, hats, furniture even the odd Opium Den in the back streets- and among these lay a single shop in particular, 'The Lightwood & Sons Bakery' the only bakery in all of Idris. _

_Behind the old oak counter stood a young man, only seventeen, watching the city move in a quick blur through the foggy shop front window. He smiled slightly as he thought about all the other lives moving past him that he would never know. The tinkle of a broad bell chimed through his thoughts and he looked up to see an old staggering man in his late nineties. The boy wiped his tanned skin on a dirty rag hanging off the wooden counter and smile at the man as he approached the counter._

"_Good morning, Hodge" He nodded to the frail man who lent against a carved wooden stick with intricate designs._

"_Ah Jace, I see your charm hasn't worn since yesterday" Hodge was the oldest man in the city- after Old Morgs had fallen ill last winter- and had known Jace's family since anyone could remember, in fact he had been around so long he pretty much knew every family in the city from before they were even born. Hodge lifted a thin arm slowly and ran it through the hardly existent white threads of hair on his bald head "Is your _father _in?" _

_Jace's eyes glinted a bit in anger as memories of his real father came to mind but his face remained cheerful and Hodge ignorantly didn't notice the transition. "Of course, _Robert _is just in the back there. I shall go get him for you" _

"_Thank you, my dear boy" Hodge replied with a horse throat as Jace turned around and disappeared into the doorway behind him where a small square kitchen, only about twelve feet in length, lay. Jace was welcomed with the strong smell of fresh bread and burning wood. Large ovens and long wooden benches breached the edge of the room whilst large dough tables and round metal bowls the size of a horse were positioned within the cramped space between. Standing at one of the benches stood a tall bulk man with broad shoulders and a head of dark brown hair, kneading some sourdough together. _

"_Robert, Old Hodge is here to see you" Jace called in a bored tone as he approached the bench. The man turned around surprised and wiped his hands on his white shirt, which had once been a light brown before the flour had covered his body head to toe. His face was covered in white powder and ash so Robert took an old rag off the hook on the side of the cold stone wall and wiped down his face, making dust flurry around the air onto the floor. _

"_thanks Jace, you finish this and I will go talk to Hodge" passing the rag to Jace, he walked back out the heavy wooden door and into the front room. Robert was Jace's adoptive father, Maryse was Roberts wife and they had three kids who Jace adored as his own siblings. The Lightwoods had adopted him when he was ten years old and ever since he had helped them run their family bakery on the main street of Idris._

_Jace continued to work on the dough slowly and folded it into an oval, cutting slices into the top with a thin knife. He opened up the large oven doors and slid the loaf into the open fire before closing the metal doors and twisting the lever to hold it closed. _

_He walked back over to the bench and grabbed the rag before walking out the door into the front room to see Hodge and Robert discussing what looked like quite a serious matter, wiping his face with the rag Jace walked over to the two men and sat beside them joining into the conversation. _

"_they say she controlled the beast with only a few words, as though it was an old friend!" Hodge bantered with extravagant hand gestures, Roberts eyes grew large and he continued listening contently. _

"_What happened" Jace asked in confusion, Hodge turned to him and replied as though he was telling them a story around a campfire._

" '_em travellers from Elsorve were passin' through Idris and set up them camp in the Mantire Forest last night," the old man exclaimed "attacked by a wolf they say! Right in the middle oh' the night, full moon too! Ya' know what my grandpapa always told me," Hodge brought his wrinkled face up close to Jace's-much to Jace's disgust-and continued his story in a shallow tone " 'the forest changes form when the moon is at its fullest' " bringing his face back he leaned back on his walking stick and looked at Robert once with a chuckle "but 'course them city folks ain't got no sense in them' woods! _

_Them reckon a woman in a green cloak summoned the beast away! They thought 'em dreamin' but they have an arrow to prove it! You know who it is, boy?" Hodge raised a buff eyebrow at Jace, who had no idea what he was going on about. Hodge may be the one in the whole city with the most gossip to spread but he was also the oldest man in the city, not everything he said was reliable or seine for that matter._

"_You?" Jace joked but Hodge didn't see the humour _

"_Don't be silly boy," he paused and lowered his voice, bringing it closer to jace's once again. Silence fell for several moments as though it was a sin to speak his next words, before he finally drew out his sentence in a grave voice "It was… The Solus"_

"_The Solus?" Jace questioned, incredulous._

"_Yes, The solus" Hodge replied impatiently "don't tell me you 'ave'nt heard o' The Solus"_

"_I have, of course I have," Jace replied "but shes just some made up nonsense brought up by hallucinations and shadows" _

"_Oh she's anythin' but made up, boy. Six years ago, she first appeared, they say she was only a small figure back then. Saved Everest Green from his house fire and everythin'. Appeared outta nowhere one day and has been savn' all our lives ever since. Can't say 'em authorities all too pleased, callin' 'er an outlaw as such. They say she lives on 'er own in tha woods, and that she can speak to the forest animals, hair is apparently red as a rose and eyes as green as the vines to match. Never seen nothing' like it they say, but o' course nobody really knows, she aint ever let nobody in, and always hidden behind that hood o' hers. Goin' 'round the city at night stoppin' all tha' crime. Steals things in return sometimes, its only fair- she saved my life once, some gang from the south struck me in tha olive greaves once. In a flash she had 'em all on the floor without a scratch on 'er. Next day me old coat went missin', must'a known I didn't use it no more. I aint care, she deserved more than me ol' rags for savin' me life like that. Shes real alright, boy, she's helped more than three quarters of these here city and aint never left a name or asked for anythin' in return besides a couple little things we aint use no more" Hodge finished his little story with a proud expression, as though he was happy with his description._

_Jace listened thoughtfully, he wondered why this woman did the things she did. Saving strangers and living alone? It didn't seem like the ideal life, especially for a young girl. The bell rattled again as another person walked through the door and into the warmly lit bakery. Jace looked up along with Robert and Hodge to see a tall slender boy with messy black hair. _

"_G'day there Alec" Hodge started. Alec looked at him and replied with some subtle greetings before walking over to Jace. Alec was holding a large weaved basket which was filled with fresh ingredients from the markets such as flour, milk, potatoes, cheese and ham with an assortment of other necessities. The boys bid farewell to Hodge as they walked back into the kitchen but Robert and he were already deep in another conversation and didn't notice._

"_What was that about?" Alec asked casually looking over at Jace whilst he placed the basket on the farthest bench. _

"_Old Hodge giving Robert the daily news, as usual" Jace shrugged and walked over to the fire oven to take out the loaves of bread_

"_Anything new?" Alec began taking the produce out of the basket and started placing them into shelves above him. Alec was Robert and Maryse's son and was closer than a brother to Jace, blood or not._

"_Nah, the usual. That Solus character apparently stopped some animal from attacking some foreigners"_

_Jace opened up the heavy door and was blinded by steam, once it all rose to the ceiling and cleared off a bit he wiped the sweat off his forehead and used a long wooden rod with a flat end to shovel out the bread from the flame. _

"_Really? Wolves in the city?" Alec didn't seem too alarmed, just curious_

"_Nah, out in the Mantire supposedly" Alec nodded his head in understanding and both boys continued to work like usual._

**So that's my second chapter (counting the prologue as the first chapter) I hope you all like it so far and hopefully I will get another chapter in soon. Let's hope I don't forget to update this one like I do with all my other ones, you know Reviews help because they remind me that I need to keep writing. If I don't get any then I just expect no one really cares and don't write anything. Criticism is always useful since I suck at writing. Well I probably won't post again until next weekend because I have to get through my last week of school for this term, then holidays I should have time. So yeh, wait five days and hopefully I will see you again. Oh yeh and hopefully I write another chapter to **_The Battle Of Time _**also, thanks.**

**-Me P:3**


	3. Six Fingered Nigel

_**-3-**_

**Six Fingered Nigel**

_The busy sound of the bustling coble stone square failed to drown out the hollering wind as people in thick cloaks sprinted through the streets, darting in and out of the sheltered market stalls, a sea of dark hooded figures streaming through the narrow alleys. It wasn't surprising to find so many people outside, even on such a chilling morning, Idris was accustom to rain and it was a necessity to keep going on as usual no matter the weather._

_Jace Wayland was among many, seeking the delights the town markets had to offer. Briskly walking between people of all ages Jace called out to his sister who was narrowly dodging a hunched elderly couple carrying thick bails on their boney backs. _

"_Isabelle. What else did Maryse want us to buy?" Jace flicked his damp, hair out of his face in an array of water droplets, as he turned to the slim figure who was now beside him. Neither Jace nor Isabelle had bothered to bring hooded travelling cloaks and were now regretting their choice as it began to pour down with rain half way through their shopping trip. _

"_By the angel," Isabelle swore in exasperation staggering on the lose cobblestones and hastily swiping the inky tendrils of hair out of her face and ungracefully over her shoulder as water sheeted off her head and down her thick red cloak, almost knocking a passing man in the process "At the rate we're going I may as well jump in Lake Lynn and I'd be dryer than I am now" Jace sighed; Isabelle was beautiful but hell did she lack patience. _

"_IZZY," her eyes darted up to his, she hadn't seemed to notice his gradual presence within the crowed. Her gaze was expectant and she didn't seem to realise he had already asked the question, so he repeated it with an out of place tone of amusement considering the circumstance "I am not sure if you have noticed recently but there is quite the downpour and as the situation seems I would like to return to dry ground before the days end and; in order to do that we need to buy an abundance of objects for your dear mother. Considering she only told you the things she required, I think you could perhaps, you know- TELL ME."_

_Isabelle lacked no ire as she listed an assortment of strange vegetables and grains the family was in need of this morning. Her face was scrunched up in annoyance as she continued on to list another assortment of profanities about her companion beside her who was already ducking under an overhanging roof side where wooden crates of organics were stacked around like a makeshift fort, some of the more prided produce protected by stray thatch rugs which now had a steady stream running off its soaked fibres and into the street. Realising her brother was no longer walking beside her she flicked her head from one side to the other before sighting his blond hair several meters behind her. Stopping to turn around she accidentally knocked into several people who gave her quite annoyed sounds of protest._

_Hurriedly rushing through the stream of coats and limbs she found herself beside an array of different vegetables all thrown haphazardly into wooden crates which were now soaked into a dark amber. Standing beside a supply of multi-coloured tomatoes stood Jace, who looked to be deep in discussion with a short beady eyed man. His eyelids drooped over his pupils slightly as he looked up at Jace, his bare head covered in thin patches of pale wispy hair. Jace turned around with animated arm gestures as he welcomed his apparent new found acquaintance. "Ah… Isabelle, come meet Nigel here" he grinned as the so said Nigel nodded his head in acknowledgment but his facial expression didn't really change enough to warrant a greeting. _

"_Nice to meet you… Nigel" Isabelle politely announced with distain. This, however seemed to amuse Jace. _

"_Nigel is willing to give me this strange thing he calls a Mango, free of charge. Isn't that so generous of him?" Jace directed the rest of his obligations to the elderly man beside him as he continued with a persuasive charm "You see, I have never tasted such a strange delicacy in my life and I shall be glad to buy many off you, my dear friend, in the future" Isabelle suspiciously watched on wondering where her older brother was going with this. _

_It hadn't taken the pair long to collect the rest of their groceries before they were headed home. In the short time it had taken them, the rain had failed to clear up and the sky had turned an ashen grey with little sunlight to be found. Isabelle was carrying a woven bag in each hand which were filled with a strange assortment of vegetables, dairies and meats. Jace on the other hand had one satchel of thin fire wood over one shoulder- hidden under his thick cloak- and a half eaten mango in the other hand. After his encounter with Nigel (whom Jace had later told Isabelle was also named Six Fingered Nigel) Jace had told Isabelle that he had obviously tried Mangoes before and was "trialling the quality" which he had apparently also done with Alec a week earlier. _

_Now glad Six Fingered Nigel had unreliable memory, Jace was pleasantly biting the stringy flesh straight off the seed as though it were a common apple and spitting out the rubbery yellow skin onto the flooded stone road. Casually taking bites as he walked, with no regard for the weather._

_Whilst beside him Isabelle was briskly trying to get out of the billowing wind and pelting rain as soon as possible, her red cloak- now a dark crimson as it sopped with rain water- flying around and her hair sheeting off streams of water. Her eyes looked dark and dangerous in the gloomy light she was set in determination as she followed the stream of people walking down the street, they were now in the area of the city which was out of the markets but held all the stationary stores. _

_They passed many glass store front windows. Jace noticed a small restaurant, patisserie, deli and tailors studio but didn't really pay much attention to the shops considering he had passed this street so many times he already knew all the titles and where they stood. He knew the hanging wooden sign which engraved _'Lightwood & Son Bakery'_ was not too far ahead and was about to calculate how long it would take to arrive under the shelter of his families Bakery when he heard screams of shocked exclamation from behind him as people began to clear a space around something to the side of the street. _

_Jace looked back at Isabelle who returned the same expression of confusion and curiously tried to glance over the crowed unsuccessfully, looking back at Jace shrugging. Jace tried peaking over the large crowed. The clearing was quite far away and Jace came to the realisation he wasn't going to fit through the crowed, looking around him he found several discarded broken crates on the side of the street leaning against the brick side of an old healer's den- the pharmaceuticals of Idris. _

_Doubting the ingenuity of a leverage made out of broken boxes from the gutter Jace sighed and scanned the ground for something else before a shimmer of blunt metal caught his eye. A rusty old welding nailed onto the brick wall, two long metal rods scaling the wall vertically with horizontal bars at its intervals, several missing or loosely hanging from odd angles. _

_Quickly running over to it and beginning to climb the fragile ladder Jace felt the cool metal slip under his fingers. The rain was still pelting down on his back and he could see the water coursing down the thin bars he held. Taking several steps up the ladder Jace went as fast but as steady as he could, doubting the suspension of the years old fire escape._

_Several feet above the ground he pulled his leg up onto another ridge and put his weight onto that pipe as he pulled his other leg up to join it but before he could the grate gave way and he fell, quickly holding onto the side bars to stop his short descent his feet caught on a lower bar and he began to climb further again, keeping a sturdier grip on the sides and making sure the pipes weren't too rusted before stepping onto them. The combination of wind a rain made it hard for Jace to keep his hold on the ladder and he was glad he only needed to scale several meters up the wall. _

_He had made it about three meters up the ladder when he could successfully look over the sea of startled and now as it seems unsettled crowed. It had only taken Jace a minute or so to climb up the grate but there were now people running and shouting down the street, some out of sheer panic for their lives as it sounded and others hopelessly calling for the towns doctor. Jace looked into the still recognisable circular clearing and saw lying on the cobblestone road a body, what looked to be a large man- unmoving._

_From where Jace was, on the other side of the street several shops down, it was hard to make out particular illustrations but he looked moderately robust and had a black cloak which was covering most of his face and fanning out on the ground around him. A pool of crimson mixed into the flooded puddles of rain water around the figure, a splash of colour standing out in the gloomy setting. A long thin stick protruding from its chest, realisation hit Jace and with a start he almost slipped off the ladder._

_It was an arrow._

**Hey there readers, so that's my third chapter now done. Anyone notice the TID reference? I'm not too proud of this one actually, though it is my longest chapter for this story so far but I'm just disappointed with the actual overall quality of the writing- arg. Im not sure where you guys live but in Sydney (Australia) here its about 1:30 am in the morning and I just wanted to get it out as fast as possible because you have all been waiting for so long. Sorry I haven't updated for what, two weeks after I said I would? I've just been really busy with holidays (don't give me that look! Holidays can be tiring too! …maybe…) and I've been getting really tiny amounts of sleep and such. Anyway, thanks so much for all the reviews, favourites and follows, if you're a Fanfic author as well then you would understand how important they are for motivation. So thanks a bunch guys, really appreciated. And I think that pretty much raps up all I needed to tell you and if your still reading this from the start of my AN then you really rock and I applaud you on your will power. Next update hopefully soon. I guess it depends on how much people like this chapter…**

**-Me P:3**


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